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Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals of the family Elephantidae. It was the Special Weapon of Hannibal Barca. Stats *Weight: 9000 lbs *Height: 9-11 feet *Origin: Africa History Although nobody is certain where or when elephant warfare began, the earliest evidence of the domestication of elephants is a Mesopotamian relief dating back to about 2500 BC. Elephant warfare likely spread from India to the Persian Empire. In 331 BC, Alexander the Great encountered Persian war elephants at the Battle of Gaugamela. Although the elephants saw little action in the battle, their presence on the battlefield encouraged Alexander to adopt the captured elephants into his own army. In the Mediterranean, the Egyptians and Carthaginians began acquiring African elephants for the same purpose. The first major use of war elephants in Europe came ﻿at the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BC, when the Greek King Pyrrhus used 20 war elephants to attack the Romans, who were unprepared for such a formidable weapon and were promptly routed. This victory inspired Carthage to develop its own war elephants and deploy them extensively (though rather unsuccessfully) in the First Punic War. By far the most well-known use of war elephants came during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal Barca crossed the Alps and invaded the Roman Empire with 37 war elephants under his command. The last significant use of war elephants in the West came in 46 BC, during the Battle of Thapsus, where Julius Caesar armed his fifth legion with axes and commanded the legionaries to strike the elephants legs, which proved effective in halting their charges. War elephants continued to be used in South and South East Asia throughout antiquity and until the Middle Ages, when the advent of gunpowder began to limit the effectiveness of the elephant as a combat unit. Tactical Use In battle, elephants were often deployed near the center of the line to prevent a charge or launch one of their own. A charging elephant could reach 20 mph (30 km/h) and, unlike horse cavalry, was not easily stopped by a line of infantry setting spears. The elephants thick hide gave them considerable protection, while their height and mass protected the rider. Their height also made gave archers a safe and steady platform with an unparalleled view of the battlefield. Moreover, elephants could inspire terror in an enemy not used to fighting them, and could cause them to break ranks and flee in fear. Horses unaccustomed to the sight or smell of elephants also panicked easily. Weaknesses A surprising weakness of this power weapon is that Elephants are not naturally aggressive, in fact they avoid fighting except in must season. War elephants had a tendency to panic when they sustained a serious injury or when their driver was killed, causing them to run amok, indiscriminately causing casualties on both sides as they sought escape. Due to their large size, they were also easy targets for projectile weapons. The small populations of Elephants made it hard for an army to raise enough to affect a battle. Some armies raised pigs and would make the pigs charge at the Elephants, who were afraid of the smell and sounds that pigs and other animals made. With the invention of the cannon, most armies abandoned the elephant for combat use but even today south Asian armies use elephants to carry heavy loads. Test The War Elephant was tested against the Mongol Recurve Bow of Genghis Khan for special weapons. The elephant was egged on to stomp on a ballistics gel torso on top of a load cell. The torso was completely shattered and the load cell clocked the stomping force at 2,045 lbs. The Recurve Bow was shown to able to use special arrows to cause injuries to elephant skin, which would cause the elephant to panic and cause chaos. The edge was given to the war elephant due to it's massive intimidation and killing power. Category:War Animals Category:Special Weapons Category:Weapons Category:Edge Weapons